Arabic belongs to the
Afro-Asiatic (or Hamito-Semitic) family of languages that consists of over
three hundred languages, some of which are extinct and some used marginally as
liturgical languages. Arabic and Hebrew are the two prime examples of living
Semitic languages while Hausa and various dialects of Berber are examples of
surviving Hamitic languages.
The earliest known
example of Arabic is an inscription found in the Syrian Desert dating back to
the fourth century A.D. The pre-Islamic Arab tribes who lived in the Arabian
Peninsula and neighboring regions had a thriving oral poetic tradition. But it
was not systematically collected and recorded in written form until the eighth
century A.D. This poetic language, probably the result of the fusion of various
dialects, came to be regarded as a literary or elevated style which represented
a cultural bond among different tribes.
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) received his messages from God in Arabic through the Angel Gabriel over a
period of twenty-three years, 610-632 A.D. The Holy Qur’an, containing these
messages, was originally committed to memory by professional reciters (hufaz
and qura’). With the spread of Islam, different accents for the pronunciation
of the Qur’an came into use until a standardized version (with notations for different
accents) was completed under the third Caliph, Uthman Ibn ‘Affan, in the
mid-seventh century A.D. As more and more non-Arabic speakers were drawn to
Islam, the Qur’an became the most important bond among Muslims, Arabs and
non-Arabs alike, revered for its content and admired for the beauty of its
language. Arabs, regardless of their religion, and Muslims, regardless of their
ethnic origin, hold the Arabic language in the highest esteem and value it as
the medium of a rich cultural heritage. It is this intimate connection between
the Qur’an and Arabic which gave the language its special status and
contributed to the Arabization of diverse populations.
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